According to the data confirmed by Azerbaijan, 38 Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian captives are currently held in Baku, Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Gegham Stepanyan said in the country’s parliament on Thursday.

However, the ombudspersons of Artsakh and Armenia as well as human rights organizations have proofs of 80 more people being held in Azerbaijani captivity, the ombudsman said, noting that Azerbaijan does not confirm the data.

“This suggests that Azerbaijan is deliberately hiding the real number of captives," Stepanyan stressed.

Of the 38 prisoners, 35 are soldiers and 3 are civilians who were captured after the 9 November 2020 statement. 19 civilians are reported missing. There are people among them, whose capture can be confirmed by facts, he noted.

All 38 were convicted in Azerbaijan on trumped-up charges, the ombudsman said.